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Windows 8 launch lets computer makers test creativity

PC, tablet boundaries continue to blur

By Peter Svensson Associated Press Toshiba U925t To convert this laptop into a

Posted:
10/26/2012 11:34:40 PM MDT

Updated:
10/26/2012 11:36:27 PM MDT

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A person tries a Samsung tablet computer running Windows 8 at the launch of Microsoft Windows 8, in New York, Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012. Windows 8 is the most dramatic overhaul of the personal computer market's dominant operating system in 17 years.

NEW YORK -- Can't decide if you want a PC or tablet? Now you won't have to. With the release of Windows 8, computer makers are doing their best to blur the boundaries with an array of devices.

Some of these configurations are new, while others have appeared and disappeared on the market since at least 2002.

Microsoft says it has certified 1,000 devices for use with Windows 8 and its sibling operating system, Windows RT. The two systems look the same, but they're quite different.

Windows RT runs only on machines with the type of lower-energy, phone-style chips used in iPad and Kindle tablets. That makes for cheap, thin and light devices with very long battery lives -- more than 10 hours. But those devices won't run any programs written for other versions of Windows.

The ability of Windows RT devices to connect to peripherals such as scanners and printers is also limited.

Here's a selection of the devices:

Convertibles

These are the Transformers of the bunch. They run Intel chips and may look like staid laptops at first glance, but one way or another, they convert into tablets.

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